Tormented, Paranoid and other Teenage Quirks
by MaybeEventually
Summary: Curly drags Ponyboy into his world of drugs...


Sorry, it's so short. I just wanted a short, introductory chapter. Hopefully the next update won't be too long. Also, sorry I haven't updated any of my other stories in a while… I wrote them all a very long time ago so it's hard to stay interested in that same plot line. Sorry 'bout punctuation, grammar and etc… like this story, I'm pretty drug-fried so what little ability I did have writing, is now vanished, haha.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the Outsiders… But the memories are mine.

P.S My other story The MarySue won on http://www.greaserschoice2006. for best humor/parody. The same story got nominated in the same category on www.wrongsideofthetracksawards. but it sadly didn't win… But anyway, I wanted to say thanks for the people who voted!:D And thanks for the nominations (and 1 win) on those 2 sites.

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The first time I smoked a bong, seems so long ago. But whenever I recall with friends, it feels like just yesterday. I had been sitting in my friend's bedroom. Maybe you know her? Scout. She was this tomboyish girl who lived down the street from me. I hadn't really spoken to her before then, but that's probably because I was kinda shallow to begin with… She wasn't the coolest girl at my school, or the prettiest, or the most atheletic, or even the smartest… Hell, she didn't even seem to have a single friend. But one day she approached me, shortly after Johnny and Dal's death and began talking to me. She didn't have a lot of interesting things to say, but I could tell she was a nice person. There was something behind her green eyes that made me want to get to know her more. And I guess I can say I kinda did…

Her parents were hippies, so they had no problems at all handing us our first gram of weed. By this point me and Scout had probably only been hanging out for about 3 months, when we both expressed our desires to at least give marijuana a try. We had both heard so much about it, and she had grown up around it, so we were both very eager to try.

We rolled joints first off, and we smoked them in her backyard, sitting on the swingset. We had one each, and then played on the swings for an hour or two. We knew we weren't stoned… but we didn't mind pretending if it meant the swingset became a little funner.

The second time round, still nothing, but we hadn't given up hope. Scout's dad chuckled and said, "joints never worked for me either. Here, try this." He handed us our first bong, which back then looked so foreign and complicated. Man, talking about it now gets me craving for one, but I'll get back to the story. It was plastic and blue, and when he put the marijuana in it, I wrapped my lips around the mouth piece…

"No," he laughed, snatching it back off me. He then demonstrated for me and said, "put your lips in the circular part, not around it. Your not sucking on a dick," he laughed. My face turned a deep shade of red and I sunk into the couch. Scout smiled at me sympathetically, and her dad handed her the bong. "You try first, you've watched us do it enough times to know."

What great parents, I thought. Teachin' us kids and helpin' us out with this drug. If it weren't for them, we would have been so lost. We would have looked like idiots if we had messed up like this in front of other teenagers. Thinkin' about it now, I guess it's pretty shocking that her parents gave us our first bong, but you have to understand it was a different time in the world… a more relaxed time in the world. And even though everyone was doing drugs… did it really mess us all up that badly? We all still grew up and had the children that brought us computers and mP3 players… But maybe if it weren't for the drugs, we would have been able to bring out that stuff beforehand, but who cares! I feel the world was much better when we were all high…

Scout held the long pipe from her mouth, which grew into a small chamber at the bottom which held water. From that point there was a smaller pipe sticking from the chamber, and you put a small gold cone looking thing into it. That's where you put your marijuana, and that's where you light it with the lighter. But even though Scout was doing it all right, the dang weed just wouldn't fall down into the water after being lit.

She sat back coughing harshly, and drinking from the prepared water she had next to her. I stared at her in wonder, assuming she had done it all correctly, "did you do it right? How was it? Are you stoned?!"

She coughed again and pointed to the bong, shaking her head. "It wouldn't go down."

Her father took the bong from her, inspected it, while her mother giggled from another couch. The father then handed it back to her and said, "you didn't put your finger on the shotty."

"The shotty?" She held the bong again, and her father showed her the hole she was meant to put her thumb on, to make it easier to pull.

"Oh! I knew that!" She said.

I watched the smoke travel up the pipe, until it began to escape into her awaiting mouth. But something went wrong. She pulled back, coughing more harshly than before, and tears had began to run down her cheeks. She coughed so hard, I thought she'd choke up a lung. She sculled down her drink, and ran to get more.

While she was gone, and before I could ask any questions, her mother had started packing me my first bong.

"So, Ponyboy, you're how old again?"

"I'm 15."

"Year 9 this year, huh?"

"Uh, no 10."

"Year 10?"

"Yes, I skipped a year."

"Wow," the dad commented, and reached over to tousle my hair, "you must be a smart kid. Really reckon you should be touchin' this bong?"

"It's okay," I said, "I just wanna try it… and if I like it, I'll give it a few more tries. Shoot, it may even become an occasional thing. But I'd never let myself become addicted to it."

The dad leaned back in his chair, looking at me through peered eyes and a strange grin, "… yeah, that's what they all say."

The mum handed me the bong just as Scout came back in. She flopped down on the couch and held her head tightly. I looked down at the bong. I could feel my heart beating wildly from fear. I put my lips inside and could already taste the acrid smell of cigarette's and something else I couldn't describe. I held up the lighter, and twisted it in my hand for a bit to find the right technique on how to hold it. Then I sparked it and watched as the marijuana burnt, and eventually slipped away into the chamber, as I sucked on it. I pulled harder… but then it hit my throat. I pulled the bong away, and coughed hard.

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That day was a while ago now, but I'll bring you a little forward to a time not long after that. Me and Scout had smoked about 3 times after that expeierence. I then began concentrating on school a bit more, so I didn't see her as regularly. But I felt bad to say that I had ditched her altogether the day that he walked in the door…

I had been in sitting in English. I really wanted to focus on writing a story this year. The past couple years of my life, had felt so exhauasting. What with my parents dieing, the whole Windrixville incident… Then the deaths that followed it, Sodapop and Steve heading to Vietnam and Two-Bit wasn't hanging out with us so much these days, I was left with Darry. Things had settled down between us, and if anything I had needed him more than ever since Soda had left… But again, I ditched him also practically… But I'll explain that all later. First off, this…

So anyway, I had the few friends in class, but not anyone as close as my real buddies. But I hadn't wanted to make any real friends since Johnny had died, and the only person I did really want to talk to was Soapop, and he was gone. I wasn't too concerned with replacing them anytime soon, so I just loned it most days. Back then, Two-Bit was hanging around at least a little more usually, so he was there to pick me up after school and hang out with me for a bit. But that later became a rare thing.

I was sitting at my desk, with my head down, writing some paragraph about some news article, when the door opened. It made me lift my head and look because the door had made such a long, drawn-out screech. Standing in the doorway was Curly Shepard, but behind him looked like a golden aura shining from the window behind him. He looked so illuminated, and he had a big grin on his face. He hadn't stepped into any of my other classes before, but he just radiated confidence. When I had started out in the new classroom, I was nervous and quiet. He held his bag over his shoulder and waved at the teacher.

The teacher put down his chalk and introduced this unfamiliar face to the class. "Everyone, this is Curly Shepard, He's new to the class so make him feel welcome."

I turned to my side and jumped, realizing Curly had already found his way to the seat beside me. "I just got out of the cooler."

"I know. You've missed out on lot," I told him.

He nodded, and got a pen out of his bag, "tell me after school, 'kay? I gotta write this crap off the board. Actually, just let me copy off yours, that'd be easier."

I handed him my book and he began writing down furiously. The dark clouds that loomed over my life and thoughts suddenly didn't seem like a problem anymore. Because the sun had just walked back into it.

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It's a little different from what I normally write. But please review and tell me what you think.


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